The Common Pleas Courthouse reigns over downtown Cape Girardeau in this aerial photo taken April 14, 1964. It’s a coincidence, but that’s almost a year to the day to when Ernie Chiles and I did a flight that launched me on the path to becoming a photojournalist. This story is going to contain a lot of links to other posts I’ve done that show Cape Girardeau from the 1960s and the present.
I photographed downtown Cape at night FROM the Courthouse this spring. I like this night shot of the Courthouse taken from Water St. up Themis.
Cape landmarks that are missing
- I see several landmark buildings that you won’t see today:
- St. Charles Hotel
- Idan-Ha Hotel
- Rialto Theater
- The tall chimney on The Missourian Building
- Several buildings in 200 block of Broadway
Other aerial photos of downtown Cape Girardeau ran in March.
Courthouse statue visible
The Civil War soldier that’s there today isn’t the same one I photographed in 1967, but it’s in the same place.
The H&H Building is still there, along with the Marquette Hotel. The future KFVS office tower is a parking lot.
The peaked front of Hecht’s sticks up on Main St.
The library is behind and to the left of the Courthouse.
Common Pleas Courthouse in 2009
The photo was taken from the west side of the Courthouse, looking east. The sundial on the right was a prop in a photo of Outstanding Seniors Russell Doughty and Bill East, Class of ’66. It was an object lesson in why some photos don’t run the way they were taken.
Dad’s office was ground floor on the left. Right behind the “sign” in that last photo. Wish I could remember more, but I was a teen worried about other things at the time. Not sure I really ever ventured anywhere else in the building.
I worked at the library when I was in high school back in 63-65. Gene Martin was the librarian and then Marilyn Maxwell as I recall. Is the old library still there, and if so, what is it today?